By Left Horizons supporters in Cumbria
Last week the Carlisle Constituency Labour Party passed a motion calling for the water industry to be brought back into public ownership. The resolution, put forward by delegates from the Cumbria branch of the Socialist Health Association, demanded that all of the water companies still in private hands be renationalised.
The right wingers in the party – those who support the policy shifts introduced by Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer – were utterly unable to put any counter-arguments to the motion and were obliged to abstain.
Delegates pointed out that the water companies were completely free of debt (Thatcher having wiped them out) before they were privatised in 1989 and since then the quality of water services has gone down the drain, leaving customers without a choice – every water company having its own regional monopoly – but facing rising costs.
The SHA delegates argued that water companies were 90 per cent owned by foreign shareholders, who have pocketed over £72billion in profits, while leaving companies with a massive £60bn debt – something that will end up being shouldered by the state or customers, with soaring bills. This amounted, delegates said, to a ‘tax’ on customers who have no choice but to pay.
The resolution also drew attention to the huge environmental damage being caused by the dumping of raw sewage into streams, rivers and lakes. Cumbria’s Lake District is a UNESCO World Heritage site, but parts of this great national park have been polluted, sometimes badly. Windermere, the largest lake, and a popular tourist destination has been the dumping ground of sewage.
The SHA delegates proposed renationalisation, but also a big increase in taxes on unearned income (such as share dividends) and a big reduction in tax relief on large pension contributions.
The resolution that was passed also instructed the CLP to write to Carlisle’s Labour MP, Julie Minns, and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed, urging them both to also back the call for nationalisation.
The text of the SHA Motion at Carlisle CLP:
After winning the 2024 General Election, the Labour Government pledged a crackdown on water pollution (“Win for wild swimmers as government pledges crackdown on water pollution in bathing spots” – (The Independent, Nov 2024)). The new government said they would prioritise bathing spaces in England and Wales.
The ‘Reforms to The Bathing Water Regulations 2013’ consultation, which ran from early Nov to Late Dec. 2024, highlights that ‘sites’ (of swimming and sport) are “only protected during the summer months” with longstanding concerns they are “becoming polluted at other times of the year.”. Such consultations, while necessary, can often create a false sense of involvement, control – and more specifically in this instance – choice.
Now that Tory supervision of British rivers and lakes has been removed, they are faring better. But it is not enough to simply prioritise these wild swim and sport spaces without a specific promise to systemic change. There is simply no choice for the consumers. In Cumbria, United Utilities calls the shots, in Northumberland, Northumbria Water, and so on. These regulated monopolies impose prices and operate with impunity.
Water was privatised in 1989 under Thatcher, delivering a Tory government policy. Since then, water has been monopolised – handed over to a few giant companies, mostly owned by foreign shareholders (90%) with a profit margins of over £72b going to shareholder dividends (£2b a year on average). Over the same period, the public has been saddled with an outstanding debt of over £60b – paid by customers through soaring water bills. This is a tax, as customers have no choice but to pay. The reality is these private companies are all but bankrupt.
This year alone, water bills will rise an average £123 GBP. Ageing infrastructure – sold to the private companies on privatisation – is now failing with minimal, government enforced, sticking plaster repairs.
Fines, following many consultations and lawsuits from the government, are then passed along to the customer. This explains in part why water bills have gone up by 40% in real terms since the start of privatisation.
Panorama profiled Severn Trent Water, a highly profitable company, with a CEO receiving £30m in salary since 2014. The company has paid out £1b in dividends. Severn will soon announce an increase in water bills for the next five years – demanding a 30% increase.
Trailing behind Scottish Water provision, publicly owned water provision in England could have had an additional £28b for infrastructure improvement. Instead, this money has gone into shareholders pockets. Even Lord Stockton, Harold Macmillan, former Tory Prime Minister, stated that privatisation is equivalent to selling off the family silver. Meanwhile, now AI is advancing to serve as the new ‘moon-race’, placing further strain and likely to exacerbate already vulnerable water supplies. A sign at a local demo in Windermere read, “Private Effluent = Public Squalor”.
While many might respond ‘we simply can’t afford it’ on the subject of re-nationalisation, the reality of the situation confronting us – the majority of consumers – is that we simply cannot afford not to.
‘Regulation’ and piecemeal reforms have led to the situation we now face. This is reflected in the 82% of the British public now in favour of re-nationalisation of water. It is not only cost effective as a systemic cost saving measure, which will benefit the majority of people, but it stands directly as the re-prioritisation in favour of consumers, it protects ecology, and it will restore those beautiful swimming spaces within this delicate sphere.
This branch believes:
The most responsible economic, environmental and healthy choice for this government is to renationalise British water companies, as this is in the best interest of the consumer.
Therefore, this branch calls on the affiliated CLP, its MP and other representatives to:
- Calls on the affiliated CLP, its MP and other representatives to engage with the new private members bill, “Water Bill”, presented by Clive Lewis
- Will write and call on the local MP to back a call for the nationalisation of water companies as a priority for Cumbria, its national park and constituents – for the MP to raise re-nationalisation through parliamentary action and parliamentary questions.
- Will write to and call on the Government post of Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) to back a call for the nationalisation of water companies – through parliamentary action and questions.
